What Remains at the End of Regret - Chapter 18

“Your Grace, the Viscount’s daughter has arrived.”

“Send her in.”

Vivian Mabel stood at the large door, took a steadying breath, and nervously moved her fingers before finally opening the door and stepping inside with purpose.

There’s nothing to be nervous about.

Her steps stopped in front of the sofa. She saw a slender hand turning through papers with focus and precision.

At the very least, he could look at me.

It felt as though he didn’t even notice she was there. The Duke kept flipping through the documents without so much as lifting his gaze. When the door fully closed and she realized that it was just the two of them in the room, the silence pressed in on her like a weight. It became so uncomfortable that Vivian had to bite her lip several times to keep herself calm.

Just as she was about to take a step closer, a low voice broke the silence.

“Have you found a way to atone?”

Leaning back against the headrest of the sofa, the Duke asked in a tone that sounded light but carried a clear edge. The question was so obviously meant to unsettle her that it made her feel humiliated. Still, Vivian began to carefully speak the words she had practiced in advance. She had intended to talk about how she had checked on Lady Norma’s condition and how sincerely she had worked in the greenhouse.

“If being a good companion is part of it, I couldn’t see Lady Norma today. She wasn’t feeling well.”

“And?”

“It was my first time, but I gave it everything I had in the greenhouse. I watered the plants and trimmed the wilted flowers.”

“And what else?”

“What else…?”

Vivian no longer knew what kind of reaction to expect from the Duke. The answers she had practiced over and over were now all she had, and it didn’t seem like enough. The determination she had felt, the desire to stand with confidence, began to crumble.

“I’m asking how well you can present your progress, Vivian.”

Her confused green eyes met Edmund’s still and unreadable gaze.

“I thought your responsibility ended there.”

At that moment, Vivian finally understood what he meant.

“I’m doing my best,” she said firmly, tightening her jaw.

She felt certain now that the Duke wasn’t criticizing her efforts, but mocking her for reciting them like some kind of formal report. But this moment, for her, was deeply important. It was the first step in offering a sincere apology. It was her beginning.

So he really doesn’t plan to forgive me.

The look in his eyes was so cold that Vivian wanted to confront him then and there.

Was what I did truly that terrible?

Couldn’t you have looked past it as a mistake made by a foolish child?

If he was going to accuse her of arrogance, of not behaving like a proper lady even after her mistake, then Vivian felt she had done more than enough already.

He hadn’t forgotten her mistake. Vivian, who had once caused trouble for her parents, had only begun attending Madam Pourin’s lessons seriously after getting lost in the Lockberg estate. Freedom had always been what she valued most, and it had taken that moment of shame to realize she had to give it up.

She had reflected. She had changed. And when she saw him again, she had apologized with sincerity.

What more did he expect from her?

Vivian could feel the anger building. She could not hold it back. She did not want to hold it back. Her hands clenched tightly, and she lifted her head.

“Do you hate me, Your Grace?”

Her voice carried frustration and hurt. She looked directly at the Duke, who still had not moved, and her gaze was filled with resentment.

The way he calmly placed the documents on the table was gentle and composed, completely different from the way he treated her. That contrast only deepened her frustration, and her voice rose with emotion.

“I was just a child. I lost my way. Was that really such a horrible mistake that it deserves this kind of humiliation?”

Vivian Mabel was now nearly shouting. Her emotions had taken over, and her voice was no longer calm or rational. It sounded as if she was spilling out everything she had been holding back.

“I really don’t understand why you have to treat me so harshly.”

She looked at the Duke, who still had not moved, then lowered her head as if giving up. Just then, Edmund slowly stood and walked toward her. Vivian’s eyes widened when she saw his black shoes stepping across the red rug.

What if he had taken offense at her outburst? She began to worry that she might have made things worse. When his steps stopped just in front of her, she froze and swallowed hard.

“You think I hate you?”

His voice was calm, yet it crashed into her like a wave.

“I am more entertained than I’ve ever been.”

She didn’t understand what he meant.

“Entertained…?”

“Watching you raise your voice and struggle like this.”

A faint smile touched his sculpted face, but it pierced her like a knife.

“Summer is long, Vivian.”

Edmund looked down at her with a quiet gaze, as if he had all the time in the world. She looked completely overwhelmed, unable to hide the mix of shock and confusion on her face. That innocent expression made it painfully obvious she had grown up in the countryside.

His assumptions had been right.

From the very first report she had delivered, she was already playing the role he had expected. She was proving to be surprisingly useful.

Repentance, was it? He had no real interest in such things. Just as she had said, it had only been a child’s mistake. He had never cared much about it.

The real problem was that summer in Faubert, disguised as a thoughtful visit to his grandmother, was unbearably long and dull.

Even so, he had come along after that incident, the one that had shaken Lady Norma. He needed to show that he had grown into the perfect nobleman, just as she hoped.

It was during that time that he had decided, somewhat impulsively, to use Vivian Mabel.

Guilt. Her innocence had made her an easy target.

He barely remembered anything more than the back of her head and the flush of her neck, but it seemed she had remembered a great deal. She had even carried that guilt with her.

“All you need to do for the rest of this long summer is keep doing your part and entertaining me like you did today.”

So he would use her. That was all. It was simple.

Edmund gently brushed the dirt from her pale cheek with his fingers. Her lips trembled, and her eyes, reddened with frustration, glared up at him.

“Do you enjoy hurting other people, Your Grace?”

She was too upset to even realize someone was touching her face. Maybe that kind of cluelessness was part of her charm.

Her effort to keep speaking despite it all was, in its own way, admirable. Edmund pressed just enough to feel the soft resistance of her skin. The warmth beneath his fingertips was oddly satisfying.

When Vivian finally noticed and quickly slapped his hand away, the reaction was sharp and instinctive. Her green eyes flashed with fury as she looked up at him, and Edmund couldn’t help but laugh.

“Of course not.”

“Everything people said about you was a lie. They all said you were a gentleman. That you had good manners. They were all liars.”

“You’re not really in a position to talk. You’re the one who keeps doing things to apologize for.”

Her face turned bright red at his shameless response. The humiliation was unbearable.

“Do you know why there are so many daisies in the greenhouse?”

Now satisfied with the expression on her face, Edmund walked toward the window. The greenhouse below came into view, and the faint white blossoms inside filled his vision.

“Because they bloom until the end of summer. The most beautiful time of year for this villa.”

Most daisies begin to wither as summer begins, but the ones inside the greenhouse, raised with the utmost care, stay in bloom until the season is over.

Just like that woman, who would lose her value once this summer came to an end.

Flowers are beautiful, but they wilt and fade too easily. A woman who resembled a flower might care for the daisies, but no matter how well they bloomed, they would wither when summer ended. That was exactly how long Edmund had planned to let it last. No longer than that.

“Your job is to take care of the flowers and help them bloom.”

Turning his body slightly, Edmund faced Vivian. He spoke in a quiet but firm voice, his figure outlined by the light behind him. The sunlight made it hard to see his expression, casting his face in shadow.

Vivian nodded slowly, making sure not to look small or weak.

“I understand.”

“Good. You may leave now.”

At his firm dismissal, Vivian gave a polite bow and stepped out of the room.

As she walked through the hallway lined with carved stone columns, the corners of her lips trembled with emotion. Sadness had settled deep inside her.

She reached the railing at the top of the stairs that led toward the main lobby and stopped there for a moment. Holding onto the handrail, Vivian finally felt the weight of despair.

Through the large glass windows, she could see the greenhouse, glowing brightly under the reflection of the afternoon sun.

It was painfully clear.

At least for the rest of this summer, the Duke had every intention of making her suffer.

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